Okay guys, I’ve seen enough of these “pain caves” that are more akin to the fitness studio of a 5 star hotel or leisure club, or maybe a millionaire bachelor pad. They’re all very lovely and full of amazing hardware and huge screens, and they’re gorgeously decorated and lit, but…

Meanwhile, back on planet earth (Scotland, to be precise) my fully appointed fitness studio has been designed around the concept of “Shed Chic”, a popular trend here in Scotland. I share my workout space with a number of friendly mice and spiders, lots of cobwebs, garden equipment, paint pots, tools and bikes.

It’s been optimally designed in its heating and ventilation in that it has no heating whatsoever and the remote-controlled industrial fan in my face is assisted by several carefully integrated draughts coming from most angles, via an extremely ill-fitting door among other things. The bare brick and render work you can see is complemented by a panel of reclaimed softwood, hastily fitted over a filthy aperture. My Android phone rests on a bespoke angled shelf situated under my nose and a tea towel is available for mopping my dripping head. on my custom hanging rail that doubles as handlebars.

Seriously though, it’s everything I need, the bike is a permanent fixture (alternating with my TT bike), it’s a lovely, freezing cold, brick built outhouse that is far enough from the main house that I can make as much noise as I like, whether it be my pleading for mercy at the altar of Mary Austin or singing to my soundtrack of trance anthems while trying to ignore the feeling that I might be about to die while reaching the crescendo of a ramp test, without disturbing my family.

That’s pretty good setup. Maybe if you have room, move bike back a bit put fan on floor, buy a cheap viseo tv and a Chromecast to mount on wall, only if your WiFi reaches that Farr. Then you can control everything from your phone.

@bikedawg may have another reason, but I have mine raised a little as I get pressure on my hands in a neutral elevation. Outside you get air resistance pushing you back a little, but you don’t get that inside. Just giving a little elevation (1-2") I find replicated this and helps with wrist and hand pressure.

julianoliver is partially correct–a little elevation helps with the hands and wrists. But the reason I use that plywood underneath the front wheel is so that I can easily slide bricks under the front wheel to simulate a steep climbing angle. I’ve discovered that you must simulate the slope in order to train for climbing, otherwise you just end up training the wrong muscles and cramp up on very steep or long climbs.

But since this picture was taken, I bought this wheel riser so I can easily change the slope of the bike with no hassle:

My shed (also in Scotland) is far too small for me to train in and doesn’t have the luxury of electricity like yours! I store my bike and trainer in there but I’ve accepted now that the spiders own that space.

I don’t have a dedicated cave but may post a picture of my setup in front of the computer one day.

@cpooleNZ, thanks for the IT tips but it’s a wifi free zone and no mobile internet either. I’ve had no end of problems with Bluetooth so I’m on Ant+ only, and have banned myself from any Bluetooth devices. I’m actually quite happy with Spotify on wired ear buds.

The fan is where I prefer it, as the buidling is so cold it’s nice to not have the fan pointing on my legs and body when it’s close to zero C - having it high up allows me to have it directed just at my face to start then I can swivel it down to hit my body later in the workout.